


10,000 Years is a Long Time Alone

by azalea_blood



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura and Lance are Siblings, Altean Lance (Voltron), Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Eventual Keith/Lance (Voltron), Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Slow Burn, but blue is the clearest, he can hear them all, lance has a bond with all of the lions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 15:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9768317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azalea_blood/pseuds/azalea_blood
Summary: Lance is the Altean Prince Lancilion, son of King Alfor, twin brother of Princess Allura, and Paladin of the Blue Lion. He woke up from a cyropod a few months before the events of Voltron, and realizes that his friends, family, whole planet is gone. He is upset, but his new family tries to help him out.





	1. Chapter 1

Lance screamed, sitting bolt upright in bed. He took a moment to compose himself, becoming aware of his surroundings. He was back in his room in the castle. He clutched the sheets, wincing at the memory of his vivid dream.

He had been in the control room, standing beside his father, King Alfor. The communication screen was up, and Zarkon's face filled it. He laughed again, and Lance's stomach clenched.  
"Blue Paladin, my old friend, don't you want to see her die?" He pulled back, revealing Fiametta chained to a chair, a gag covering her mouth. Even in the dream, Lance could feel his stomach drop into his shoes.  
"Fia..." he whimpered. "No! Zarkon, please, let her go!" His voice rose, panic forcing his way into her brain.  
She's going to die. Oh god, she's going to die. No, no, no. Not Fia. Anyone but Fia. She's going to die. Oh quiznak.

"Zarkon! Stop this at once!" Alfor shouted.  
"Truly sorry, Alfor, but this was a long time in coming." According to his grin, he wasn't sorry at all. "Now Lance, watch very closely. Watch her bleed out."

As he spoke, the gag slipped from Fiametta's mouth, and she smiled softly.  
"Lance, it's okay. I'll be fine. Be safe, Lancey." A single tear escaped her usually stone hard eyes, and Lance whimpered softly. 

Zarkon laughed wickedly, and his bayard, gleaming an evil black, plunged straight through Fia's chest. Blood spurted from the wound, and as he removed his hand, Fia's red clothes were stained an even deeper crimson.

The last thing Lance heard in his nightmare was the evil cackle of Zarkon as he called out, "your friends, family, everyone you ever knew are going to die just as painfully as your beloved Fia. You will bleed over the bodies of your friends."

Lance wiped tears from his eyes, hurriedly calming himself. It's been 10,000 years. You're okay. Zarkon isn't here. Lance knew there was no going back to bed now. He got up, walking over to the door and entering the cool hallway. He padded down numerous corridors and past hundreds of rooms, making his way to the hangar.

Upon arriving, he gazed up at his sweet lion. Blue, with her soft, soothing gaze, opened her mouth and let him enter. She was the one remnant of his life 10,000 years ago that wasn't dead or incapable of remembering him.  
Allura, on the other hand, hadn't made the connection between him and her long-lost younger twin. He knew she had agreed to the memory edit for his own safety, but it hurt that she didn't look at him and see her younger brother. A shock, or something of the sort, would allow her memory of him to come back, but just seeing him hadn't worked, as he had almost hoped. He missed his twin's kindness, her comforting arms around-

He was startled out of his reverie by noise outside Blue. He climbed out of the cabin, and came face-to-face with Pidge. Out of all the paladins except for Hunk, they were closest. He and Florial, the original green paladin, hadn't gotten along very well, so it was least painful to be around her.

"Lance, I found you! Why are you in Blue? You know what, never mind, we have to get to the command center."

"What happened?" I asked, his eyes widening.

"Zarkon! It's the King of the Galra himself!"

Zarkon. The hatred Lance felt for that man was stronger than any other feeling he'd had in his life. Just thinking about him made him think about Fia, until he realized he was growling out loud. He sprinted after Pidge, entering the deck at full sprint.

"Ah, Lance, you're just in time. Go form Voltron and face Zarkon. He only has a couple of warships with him, so be careful, it could be a trap."

They all sprinted out of the room, grabbing armor and sliding into the cockpits of their respective lions.

"Let's go, girl." Blue purred in his mind, but cautioned him not to let his emotions get out of check.

"Alright gang, lets go." That was Shiro, logging onto the comms.

They flew out of the hangar, Blue roaring as she joined the other four lions. They flew towards the first ship, diving and dodging ion cannons. Keith blasted them with fire, Hunk shot with his huge laser, and Shiro fired at the ships, all of them weaving perfectly around each other.

The excitement of this was interrupted by an incoming message.

"Zarkon." Lance snarled, hatred rising in him, pure fury boiling his veins.

"Paladins of Voltron. So good to see you again. How have you been? I believe I'll be able to see you in holding cells very soon, but before that, I have a surprise for you, Lance." Lance could feel the confusion of the others through the bond. "I know, it's been a long time since we were close enough to give gifts, but I thought you would appreciate this one." He raised his hand, and by the hair, he clutched the head of the Red Paladin.  
"Do you like it? I knew keeping this would come in handy one day." He gloated, swinging her head as if it were an ornament in the hands of a careless child.

Lance could feel his rage building up, and now, he spotted something else. In Zarkon's fist, he saw a blue pendant, perfectly crafted with Altean runes carved on. Seeing that necklace, something snapped. The world went red, the color of her lion, her clothes, her blood as she died right before his very eyes.

He only snapped out of his fit of rage when he heard screams and yelling from his friends.  
"Lance! Lance stop!" Yelled Shiro. "Lance what the hell was that!? Lance! Calm down you're going to hurt someone!" Pidge and Hunk we're screaming incomprehensibly, and he knew he had crossed a boundary. Lance tried to remember what had happened, and got bits and pieces of Galran ships destroyed, smashed to tiny pieces, Zarkon fleeing, the other paladins floating motionless as Lance - he shuddered, trying to stem the flow of recollections of the horrid things he had done not 50 ticks earlier.

The lions began to circle back to the castle, and settled in the hangar.

"Blue, please don't let them in. I need... I need to be alone for awhile." Blue rumbled her assent, and sat up, instead of holding her mouth to the ground like she usually would.

Lance could hear the paladins gathering around his lion, and chattering worriedly. They would want to know about Fia. Lance didn't know if he could bring himself to talk about her. But all Lance could think about was Fiametta's severed head hanging from Zarkon's disgusting grip. He closed his eyes, but all he could see was the moment of her death playing before him. To Zarkon, it was 10,000 years, but Lance had been put in a cyropod only hours after her death. In his mind, it had been only weeks since he woke up in the cave in earth, and traveled to the garrison, infiltrating it's ranks.

Lance felt pressure behind his eyes again, and knew the familiar feel of tears come to his eyes. He sobbed into lion, pouring all of his feeling into those drops of water. Blue pushed across feelings of comfort and empathy, soothing his emotions.

He lay for hours, calming down with the help of Blue. Eventually, he realized the other paladins had left. He climbed out of Blue, and looked across the hangar at Red. Agni, as Fia had called him.

"Hey. He said softly. "I know, that probably made you angry, too." Red growled softly. "Yeah, I miss her too, Agni." He purred, a bittersweet sound, both happy to hear his beloved master's nickname for him, and sad that he would never hear it come from her mouth again. He sighed, and let the bond between Agni and Lance, which Fia had insisted they strengthen, convey each other's loss and comfort at being near each other.

"Lancilion?" He turned, hearing his full name, one that hadn't been spoken in a very long time.

"Allura." He sighed.

"Oh Lance, I'm so sorry. I... I know you miss her. I'm sorry I didn't realize it was you."

"Of course you wouldn't. That was the point of the memory edit, silly. I just... seeing... I just can't get it out of my head."

Allura buried Lance in her arms, and he felt relieved, feeling the comforting presence of his sister that had been there since they had been but little children running around the castle.

"Lance, I... I know it feels too soon, but I think you need to talk to the other paladins."

"I know. But... they'll look at me differently. With that pity. I... I just want... I don't know anymore."

"Lance. It's okay. They might understand better than you think. How about tomorrow. I'll help you, and if you ever need to stop talking about, I'll make sure you can. Fair?"

"Fine."

Lance crawled back to bed, pulling in pajamas and sliding under the sheets. He fell into a restless sleep, nightmare after nightmare waking him up every time.


	2. Nightmares on the Planet Earth

Lance was startled from a nightmare for the second time in as many days. He sat up, gasping for breath. He looked at his watch, and realized it was only a little bit before he had to get up. The castle was run by Altean time, as if they were still on his home planet and not drifting around open space.

He quickly dressed in his Earth clothing, which was actually just as llomfortable as Altean clothing, and in his opinion, more flattering. Lance stepped out of his room, and made his way to the hangar. He stepped up to Blue's mouth, and she opened it and let him in.

In the comforting cool interior of his lion, Lance felt a wave of nostalgia and sadness hit him. He missed Altea, his beautiful home planet, and its inhabitants. His mother and father, king and queen of Altea, his friends as a child, the servants who had to drag him into the tub to clean him up or shout in order to make him go to dinner parties. He missed the other paladins. In the years he had traveled with the fellow paladins, they had grown very close, like a big, space family.

He missed Quarian, the yellow paladin, with his jokes and hugs. He had been the sweetest of all of them, and one of Lance's best friends as a child.

He missed Florial, the short ball of sass that never failed to make him seem stupid. She was constantly building some new gadget to help them defend the universe.

If he was completely honest with himself (which Lance usually is not), he missed the old Zarkon. Not the Zarkon who took over the universe and killed Fia, but the man who had never let the team down, who always made Lance feel safe, and was almost the father Lance didn't have in space.

It still hurt just to think about his old team. He didn't know if he could even tell his new team about himself and the others. It was hard enough thinking that Fia was gone, but saying it, would just make it even more solid. That she was gone forever.

His mind, as it often did, wandered back to his last day 10,000 years ago. He couldn't remember much about the night he crashed. Just bits and pieces. There was blood, a lot of it, and his shaking hand as he scrawled out a message for himself or any Altean who may come across the Blue Lion.

Lance had found the cave again with the new paladins. He hadn't been back to the cave since he found the garrison, as the military could follow him and that would risk them finding blue.

He had read the words again, seeing the full force of his anger literally written across the walls. THE GALRA WILL PAY. THEIR EMPIRE WILL FALL. ZARKON WILL WATCH HIS KINDOM BURN AND I WILL BE THERE TO STAB HIM AS HE DID FIA. THE BLOOD OF THE KNAVES WILL TURN RIVERS RED AND THE SKIES WILL GLOW PURPLE WITH THE FIRE FROM THEIR BURNING SHIPS. IF IT IS THE LAST THING I DO I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE. I WILL DESTROY THE ENTIRE RACE OF GALRA AND KILL THEIR VILE RULER AS SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY AS POSSIBLE.

Lance himself had been surprised at the extent of the hatred he felt for the Galra. Thankfully, none of the others could read Altean or see his hands shaking as he traced the writing.

When he had seen Blue again, he had felt so relieved he had just climbed in. Of course, Blue told him to let the others come with him, but he had pretended he had no idea what he was doing.

When Lance had woken up from the cyropod, dizzy and disoriented. He had quickly thought of his protocol for landing on a strange planet. Find the closest intelligent life form, assuming there was one. Explain situation, only if applicable. Prepare distress beacon if not able to receive help from planet.

He had crawled out of Blue, who had still been in hibernate mode. That way, the Galra couldn't track her and she would only give off a vague energy that would be hard for anyone who wasn't a paladin to follow.

He had made his way to the closest building, which happened to be the garrison. Soon realizing it to be what it was, he quickly snuck in, pretending he belonged. One would be surprised how no one would question them if they acted like they belonged there.

Soon, he had found a way to do a simple data reconfigure, creating a student profile of himself, based off of the other students profiles. Seeing as the human race was not as up to date as most species, he couldn't have informed them of who he was or put the planet and himself at risk. Therefore, he had to hide here until the time was right for someone to come get him or him to leave.

Lance had figured he would excel at this school for space people. In most of the classes, the work was much, much easier than things he had studied on Altea. Being the Prince meant you had to not only be fair and good to your kingdom, but intelligent, too.

The one thing that had messed him up time after time again, was the flight simulator. The thing was so sluggish and unresponsive compared to his lion that it was like flying an eagle and then riding on a duck. Not to mention, the ship was just a stone cold heap of metal. It had no intelligence, no emotions at all (the quintessence powering the lions did give them the ability to feel emotions, just not as strongly as most people). It was disconcerting, and messed him up every time.

The only thing that kept Lance going was the thought of returning home, and finding Allura and Father in the cyropod like they had promised to do, and his home planet similar to, if not the same as, the way he left it.

Now, though, those dreams were gone. Just like his planet, the beautiful Altea, and his friends and most of his family. Altea had been the only place he'd ever known before he went off into space, and now Lance was never going back.

Blue rumbled in his head, warning that it was approaching the time of breakfast. He slid out of her mouth, fondly patted her before exiting the room, on his way to talk about his past and how Zarkon had betrayed them all and ruined his once-perfect life.


	3. Why Can't your Earth Cats Stay in the Bag?

Upon arriving at the kitchen, Lance was surprised to see only Shiro sitting at the table, sipping a cup of something he assumed was one of Hunk's latest concoctions.

"Shiro? What're you doing up this early?"

"I could ask the same of you. Couldn't sleep. Nightmares."

Lance nodded, and awkwardly grabbed another glass of what Shiro was drinking, and took a sip. It tasted almost exactly like coffee. Altea didn't have anything like caffeine, except for an energy drink laced with the juice from a flower in eastern Altea that allowed one to stay awake for about 3 days straight without sleep.

Lance had tried it once with Quarian, and they had been so energized that the two of them had nearly been bouncing off the walls. Zarkon and Father had been furious, and Allura had thought it hilarious.

Shiro sighed and looked up at Lance. "Are you going to tell the others about what happened yesterday?"

Lance grimaced. "I-uh... yeah. I guess I kind of owe it to you after what happened yesterday." Lance rambled on, words and secrets spilling out of his mouth. "I mean, it was stupid of me to go off like that, but keeping her h-head?" He nearly stumbled on the word, images from yesterday flashing through his mind, "I knew Zarkon was evil, well, he proved that many times, but sometimes I still feel like he's okay, you know? I mean, I know he's not and like took over the universe and stuff, but sometimes, you know, he's like my space dad again."

Lance flushed, realizing how much he had said, and carefully watched Shiro's reaction.

He blinked. "Space dad?"

"Wait- out of all of that THAT'S what you - never mind. Uh, well being in space and all, Father was back home, so I guess I kind of attached myself to him and he became like my dad, but in space? You see what I mean? Space Dad?"

Shiro just looked confused. "I get that you're going to tell the rest of the team this too, but could you start at the beginning?"

Lance shrugged. Well, it'd be good practice for when he had to face the others.

"Um, well, I'm... not human. I'm from Altea, specifically the southeastern region where the capital is. Anyway, I'm... I guess there's no way to get around this... the Prince of Altea."

Shiro didn't even look surprised anymore, just vaguely nauseated.

"So you're... Allura's brother?"

"Uh, yeah. Twins, but I'm younger. That's why she was supposed to inherit the throne. Well, she can't anymore but... you get the point. So I'm the son of King Alfor, Prince Lancilion, and the original Blue Paladin. Uh, you know that Zarkon was the Black Paladin, and we were pretty close, I guess. Well, Father never really had time for me, what with Allura being next in line for the throne, and she was always his favorite. But, you know, Zarkon was probably closer to me than my own dad, ouch, right? Anyway, Space Dad."

Shiro could clearly see that Lance needed encouragement to continue his story, so he reached across the table and put a hand on Lance's. Lance smiled, feeling better, and continued.

"So, before the 10,000 Years we were asleep, Zarkon betrayed us. He used his ships to attack Altea, and started enslaving other planets. He wanted us to join him and rule the world as Voltron, but of course we refused. He was going to attack the castle and take the lions by force, but Father told us to hide the lions on small planets uninhabited by the Galra and sleep in the cyropods until we could stop him when the time was right."

There was a small noise outside, but Lance was too busy thinking about his past to realize it. "And if we didn't make it to the planets, the lions were set on autopilot to get there themselves."

Shiro hesitated, but curiosity got the best of him. "What... happened to the other paladins?"

"I successfully made it to a planet in its early stages, namely Earth, but there was no one in the yellow and green lions, were there? I don't know how, but they must have gotten killed when I was on my way to earth. We didn't keep communications open or tell each other where we were going, so they wouldn't be able to find us all."

Lance balled his hands into fists, remembering the Yellow and Green Paladins. He took a deep breath, and continued.

"The Red Paladin, Fiametta. She and I were... close. Zarkon knew that, and used it to his advantage. He snatched her before we even had time to leave, and... and murdered her right before my eyes. That... was her head he was holding. And our necklaces too. That... that quiznacking little... I kinda lost control after that." Lance laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "You know me, running into danger without thinking about the consequences."

Shiro looked at him then, and he could feel the sympathy radiating from the Black Paladin. He was really quite similar to Zarkon. Besides the whole betrayal thing. It was insane how much they were like the old paldins.

Shiro stood up, saying "I'll get the others. They'll want to hear this, 'Kay?" Lance nodded, only now hearing panicked sounds from outside the door.

Shiro walked over to the entrance to the kitchen, and pressed the opening button. The other three paladins tumbled into the room with yelps of surprise.

Hunk, the first one to get up, ran over to Lance, crying, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Lance! That's so sad!" And wrapped him in a crushing hug.

Pidge shuffled after, looking thoroughly saddened by his sob story. "Lance, I had no idea..."

Lance laughed. "Hey, it's no biggie. Of course you wouldn't have known, I didn't tell you."

Even Keith looked upset, although he didn't say anything.

"So, how much did you hear? Do you want some filling in?" Lance asked with a grin, albeit an empty one.

"All of it." Pidge pipped up. Lance heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh thank the stars, I did NOT want to say that entire thing again."

"I- I just have one question." That came from Keith, still leaning against the doorway."

"Shoot."

"Why didn't you tell us? I'm pretty sure we could have used your experience as a former paladin quite a few times, Lance." The was a hint of an icy edge to his words.

Lance looked a combination of sheepish and surprised, but Shiro frowned. "Keith." He scolded.

"It's okay." Lance said softly to Shiro. "He... has a point. The thing is, I guess I almost didn't want to believe it myself, that they were all... gone. And... I suppose I kind of thought that you'd end up, well, relying on my experience, and that scared me. Just a bit. I mean, you know me, always dodging responsibility." He let out a nervous, empty laugh.

Hunk fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable with the atmosphere in the room. "Well, I am going to make some waffles. Or, at least try to. Cause, you know... they don't exactly have flour here in space."

Keith gave Lance a snide look that showed he didn't exactly love that answer. "Yeah whatever. I'm going to train." His absence was only met with a heavy silence. Lance gave a shaky laugh, and picked up his mug. "As much as I hate to leave you all, I have a beauty routine to complete." He all but ran out of the room.

Lance didn't even make it to his room before his legs gave out. He slid down the wall, curling himself into a ball, feeling his sobs wrack his body. He wasn't quite sure why he was crying, but he just couldn't even manage to stop.


	4. A Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is short, but hey I'm bored. Sorry for the like 2 month long wait for the 3rd chapter btw. See ya!

_Fia stood at the edge of the balcony, her hands gripping the rail while her hair and dress ruffled softly in the breeze._

_"Hey, fire girl." Lance murmured, coming to stand next to her._   
_"Hi, Lance." She laughed, turning to face him. "You can't beat the stars from Altea, can you?"_

_"Nope." He shook his head. "In all my years of traveling the galaxies, never have I seen a prettier sky. Or lady." He kissed her softly on the cheek, eliciting a heated blush from Fia._

_"Lance..." she smiled softly._

_"Hey, Fia?"_

_"Mmm?"_

_"Can I ask you something?"_

_"You just did, pretty boy. But yeah, go ahead."_

_Lance pulled a box out of his pocket and opened it to reveal two necklaces._

_"Will you marry me?" Fia gasped, tears in her eyes, and nodded. He kissed her again, pulling the blue necklace out of the box and draping it around her neck. He lifted the second, this one red, and allowed her to lift it around his own._

_The words engraved on them in Altean were: "To love is to promise, and to keep that promise."_

_"Fia, promise me one thing."_

_"Anything. Anything at all."_

_"Never leave me."_

_"I promise."_

"I swear it, Fia. To hurt him for making you break your promise."


	5. Meeting an Old Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I am SO sorry i havent posted since february what the hell me... anyway here is the latest chapter and i PROMISE to try and get you more stuff, but ive been busy with high school and my lack of free time. Also, just a heads up that klance will come in FULL FORCE to make up for lost time. Thanks for your patience!

Lance sat in front of the window in the main bridge, staring off into space. The nights in the castle used to be so loud, with hundreds of people constantly moving about, laughing and planning and living their lives. Most evenings, he could have been found with Fia, the two of them curled up, imagining life without the rebels they fought against, or maybe just a life where they weren't part of it.

Now, it was just the sound of machinery humming and the ghost whispers of a people long gone. Lance often found himself drawn to this old night time haunting ground of his and Fia's, where he could think about all of the memories that had taken place here and sometimes just cry without someone interrupting him. Hunk had taken to visiting Lance's room to see if he needed something, and while endearing, the habit had gotten a little irksome.

Lance was startled out of his reverie by the door swished open and familiar confident footsteps sounding off of the cool floor.

“Hey, ‘Lura.” he greeted calmly, twisting to watch his sister as she approached. She smiled in return and slid down next to him.

“I guess sleep isn’t really an Altean thing anymore, is it?” Lance chuckled ironically.

“I suppose the fall of your entire empire would do that to you.” Allura half-joked. “Besides, it’s not like we need asn much sleep as those odd humans. It’s a wonder how they get anything done if they’re just asleep all the time.” Lance murmured his agreement.

“...Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you… notice, when Zarkon started to turn evil? Did something happen?”

“I think I knew something was up, but I wouldn’t let myself near the possibility that he kept secrets from the rest of us. I didn’t really want to believe that  _ he  _ of all people would betray us. As for what happened… I think it was just before we took down the head of the White Saccuten. We had captured his right hand man, and were interrogating him for information. But… I think he got into Zarkon’s head. He kept yelling about ruling the galaxy, and using a substance stronger than quintessence, more potent and dangerous, to fuel weapons of mass destruction. Zarkon had wanted to find them and destroy them, but I guess once he found them, he just couldn’t destroy them. He told us that he had, though, and I believed him.”

Allura was silent once more, and Lance knew she had more questions. “What is it, ‘Lura?” he sighed.

“What were Father’s… final moments like?”  
“When I left the castle on Arus, I could hear Father through the comms as… as it was attacked. He was brave a stoic until the end, and he was threatening Zarkon for a good 5 doboshes straight. Just before Father sent me away, after you and Coran were frozen, he told me that he was proud of me, and that he loved me. I think that's the most praise he ever gave me. I just wish he didn't have to be about to die to give it.”

“Lancilion, just because Father never told you he loved you, does not mean he didn’t. You were young and brash as well, eager to prove yourself to him. Father did not want that life of war for you, he wanted you to be safe and happy, but you believed he didn’t think you could handle it. Then he saw you with Zarkon and decided that Zarkon would be a better father figure for you, someone with more time to love and care for you. I suppose he was wrong about that.”  
“No,” said Lance suddenly. “He was right.”

“How so? Zarkon betrayed us.”

“And although everyday the pain of that still lingers, he was good to me while it lasted. The times I spent with Zarkon and the rest of the crew were the happiest of my life.”

They were interrupted from their heart-felt conversation by a beeping from the computer. Allura quickly strode to the computer and searched for the source of the beep.

“There’s another emergency distress beacon coming from a nearby planet. Get your gear on while I alert the other paladins.” Allura called.

  
\-----------------  


“Lance, land and get the civilians to safety! Hunk, take out that ion cannon!” Shiro yelled through the comms, lions weaving and dodging lasers from the Galran ships. Lance set down Blue in front of the largest building and sprinted out of her open mouth.

A huge crowd swelled in the streets, people panicking left and right. Lance used the voice amplifier on his suit to shout over the roar of the crowd: “Calm down! Voltron is here to protect you from the Galra, but we can only do that if you are willing to trust us!” The crowd quickly quieted at the mention of Voltron.

“Follow me to the evacuation pods! We will get you off of this planet.” The crowd shuffled after him, the cries of small children ringing in the air. Keith and Pidge soared overhead, defending the innocent crowd from Galra ships trying to take a shot.

Once the people were safely in pods and launching towards the castle, Lance joined Hunk in taking out the soldiers deployed on the ground. They fired rapidly, taking down bot after bot, occasionally stopping to fight a low-ranking Galra. For that, Lance morphed his rifle into a long curved blade, an exact replica of the ones Fiammetta favored for fighting. He sliced down Galra without issue, noticing that the tide of bots seemed to be lessening. They were reaching the end of their strength. The team would win the battle soon.

A civilian screamed, crumpling to the ground. Hunk ran foward to help her, the crowd of survivors swallowing him up, blocking him from view of Lance. Oh well, Hunk could take care of himself. He'd be fine.

Suddenly, the remaining Galra parted along the middle, and a tall, slim Galra strode towards them. Lance leveled his bayard and fired, but the Galra deflected it effortlessly off of his blade. He called to the yellow and blue paladins. “I am Prince Lotor. Bow before your sovereign, paladins.” And Lance remembered him. Zarkon’s first and last son, the skilled fighter who had jousted with the paladins on more than one occasion.

Lance remembered getting along well with the boy only a couple of years younger than himself. If Zarkon was his space father, Lotor had been his space brother. The two had trained and spent time together, playing harmless practical jokes on the other Paladins of Voltron. He remembered Lotor stabbing a purple glowing blade through Florian’s back, no emotion on his face as she slid to the ground. He had turned and walked away as Lance had sprinted towards her, screaming for help.

Of course, Lance hadn’t told Shiro about that. He didn’t need those pitying glances, the careful words as if something said too sharply could kill him. The days after Florian’s death, he had seen that from others in the castle. Many of them had known her, too, but they treated the remaining three paladins with such caution Lance had wanted to scream.

Snapped back to the present, Lance was filled with a sudden fury in the face of this boy who had killed his close friend, who had helped in the downfall of everything that he had ever known, everyone that had ever loved him. He charged, his bayard changing into that of two long, thin, curved daggers, the edges laced with a faint luminescent blue poison. They had been his close range weapon of choice in missions, and it only seemed fitting to use it for someone from his past. They locked blades, his soft blue against the purple tinged white of his sword. The twirled faster and faster, constantly ducking and weaving, grace clear even as they tried to kill each other.

“So my father was correct. You really did manage to stay alive after all of those years - even after my father and I murdered all of your loved ones.” Lotor crooned in Altean, his voice a sickly sweet pur.

“You shut your fucking mouth, you little snake.” He snarled, locking Lotor’s sword in place with one small crescent and slashing up towards his face with the other. The only thing saving Lotor from permanent disfigurement was his quick reflexes, hopping backwards with one foot to gain him time. Lance sprinted towards him, one dagger quickly spinning out of his hands and slicing the air before Lotor dodged and ducked, sliding forward and thrusting his blade clean through Lance’s arm. Warm blood trickled down Lance’s arm as he felt a current of pain run down his spine. A frown graced Lotor’s face as he seemingly listened to something, presumably from over his comms. He promptly pulled his sword out with a sickening sound and smugly hopped away from Lance as the boy fell to his knees and then his face, blood leaking out of his arm as he passed out.


End file.
